Thank you Wes and Stacey for writing this; I am sorry for your loss.
~ Fortis
[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:trackmoves /> <w:trackformatting /> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:donotpromoteqf /> <w:lidthemeother>en-us</w:lidthemeother> <w:lidthemeasian>x-none</w:lidthemeasian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>x-none</w:lidthemecomplexscript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark /> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp /> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables /> <w:dontvertalignintxbx /> <w:word11kerningpairs /> <w:cachedcolbalance /> </w:compatibility> <w:browserlevel>microsoftinternetexplorer4</w:browserlevel> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont m:val="cambria math" /> <m:brkbin m:val="before" /> <m:brkbinsub m:val="--" /> <m:smallfrac m:val="off" /> <m:dispdef /> <m:lmargin m:val="0" /> <m:rmargin m:val="0" /> <m:defjc m:val="centergroup" /> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440" /> <m:intlim m:val="subsup" /> <m:narylim m:val="undovr" /> </m:mathpr></w:worddocument> </xml><![endif].
[endif][if gte mso 10]> <mce:style><!
/* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"table normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"times new roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"times new roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} [endif] .
Thank you Wes and Stacey for writing this; I am sorry for your loss.
~ Fortis
and i am finding the adjustment to the real world far more difficult than i ever imagined...i f...it has been about five years since i totally woke up to the fraudulant nwt and then all my other doubts i had carried for years were proved true as well.
but almost all of my few friends are exjw or slack jw's and i feel so isolated...my sons friends are mostly exjw too but not their gf's and they have way more normal friends .
how have you done at replacing lifelong friends and family?
Oompa, I am so sad for all the pain you endured. I am sorry I never had the chance to get to know you. I take some small measure of comfort in the thought that you are no longer suffering. I have been ::this close:: to making the same choice as you have made. I understand.
May your soul rest in peace.
Love,
~ Fortis
http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2012/07/31/your-terrifying-lack/.
the article: (i highlighted the part i found interesting.
i have perhaps identified the single most lethal problem facing modern culture.. it has landed upon me once again with an inglorious thump, despite how ive seen it many times previously and merely shrugged it off, ignored its extreme prevalence or merely denied that it was really all that toxic or detrimental to the current state of the world.. i was, i now chillingly confess, dead wrong.. the single most poisonous issue facing the modern world?
Excellent post PalmTree, thank you so much for this! ~ Fortis
okay i thought it would be fun to find out who of you all ride bikes and i don't mean bicycles.
we have 2 harley road kings.
what do you ride??
My last vehicle was a motorcycle, a BMW F650ST (if I remember the model correctly). Alas, I needed money for college and sold it.
~ Fortis
i just thought you should know that mrs cedars has finally taken the plunge and joined the forum.
she was able to log on for the first time yesterday.. though we both "awakened" at different stages, mrs cedars was very supportive and non-judgmental when i first began exploring my beliefs from a critical standpoint.
she is currently in the process of reading crisis of conscience and aquainting herself with some of the facts of witness history that were hitherto unknown.
A very warm welcome to Mrs. Cedars! ~ Fortis
i was raised as a jw and i haven't been to a meeting in about 8 years..
27 long, long years (was born in), my only regret? Not trusting my gut & leaving sooner.
~ Fortis
my dad never once looked at me...i went even though they did not come to the door when i went to tell her i was sorry about her sister...that i had heard through the grapvine her sister had died...they did not even ccall me...and they did not answer the phone when i left the message asking for the time and place of the funeral unless they did not want us to attend...and they did not call....but we all decided to go anyway and im glad we did....but it was surreal...i will share more later.
and i have a close friend nearby dfd about four years ago whose dad is dying and wont hardly ever talk to her... he does a bit but not her mom....neither does robert7s mom talk at all to him and yes it causes pain...but i think i am finally close to healing that last part of mine......oompa.
funny but just realized that the above two cases both people are recognizd as a son or daughter important enough to shun like me...but we dont get shunned like dfd and apostate sons at the funeral...just another attendee...wow.
Quendi, thank you. It really does help to hear that you're not crazy for feeling so gutted by Dub's behavior. The support I have found here truly has helped even just by reading others experience, it helps to know you're not alone. This is what I wanted to convey to Oompa -- he is not alone, he is appreciated and loved. Quendi, that is how your post just made me feel. I am deeply grateful. ~ Fortis
my dad never once looked at me...i went even though they did not come to the door when i went to tell her i was sorry about her sister...that i had heard through the grapvine her sister had died...they did not even ccall me...and they did not answer the phone when i left the message asking for the time and place of the funeral unless they did not want us to attend...and they did not call....but we all decided to go anyway and im glad we did....but it was surreal...i will share more later.
and i have a close friend nearby dfd about four years ago whose dad is dying and wont hardly ever talk to her... he does a bit but not her mom....neither does robert7s mom talk at all to him and yes it causes pain...but i think i am finally close to healing that last part of mine......oompa.
funny but just realized that the above two cases both people are recognizd as a son or daughter important enough to shun like me...but we dont get shunned like dfd and apostate sons at the funeral...just another attendee...wow.
Oompa, words cannot express how very sorry I am that you have to go through this. The notion that the Witless'es are a loving organization is such a colossal joke however, the very personal reality of dealing with their cruelty is serious business indeed.
My parents and brothers told me, to my face upon leaving, that I was dead to them and they have kept true to thier word. My maternal Grandparents (Protestants) told me that not long after I left, my parents house was scrubbed clean of all traces of me, (all pictures removed, anything I had given them or made for them as a child, for example, tossed out). It's like I never exsisted. When my Grandfather (my father's father, also a Protestant) passed away I heard about it roughly four months later, through the grapevine. I know my immediate family abhors me and I've tried to make peace with it but sometimes, something happens that absolutley rips off the scab that encases my heart and I am, once again, slayed by the injustice.
Please stay strong. You are loved. You do matter.
~ Fortis
i wish i could go back and get away from all the time i spent sitting in those kingdom hall seats.
i wish i could go back and take back all those comments made for the watchtower and book study.. i wish i could go back and take back all the money spent on buying suits and book bags.. i wish i could go back and take all the money......no wait....some of the money that i placed in the donation box.. i wish i could go back and hang with all the friends labeled as bad association.. all in all, i hate that orginization.
the time spent there worrying about my "spirituality" and trying to be happy amongst fakeness.
Hear hear!
extremely, cause it's mine!.
go shorty it's my birthday.
gonna party like it's my birthday.
Happy Birthday!!!
~ Fortis